PMH1 - healthcare utilization and costs of serotonin syndrome with concomitant use of serotonergic agents

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Serotonin syndrome (SS) is an adverse drug reaction that may occurin patients receiving monotherapy or combinations of serotonergic agents (SAs).This study examined healthcare utilization and costs of SS in two different populations. METHODS: Adult (age ?18 years) patients prescribed SAs were identifiedusing the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) dataset (01OCT2008-30SEPT2012) andthe IMS PharMetrics Plus dataset (01JAN2010-31DEC2013). Patients with continuoushealth plan enrollment 12 months pre-index date, defined as the first SA prescription claim date, were included and observed until death, disenrollment or the end ofthe study period. Patients were assigned to cohorts based on drug exposure: singlemonoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) drug, MAOI drugs in combination with otherSAs, single non-MAOI SA, and multiple non-MAOI SAs (2, 3, 4, and ?5 SAs). Outcomesof interest were annual incidences of SS event (ICD-9-CM: 333.99) and associatedhealth care utilization and costs.